F 72 
.C3 081 
iCopy 1 




AN ACCOUNT 

OF THE 

DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT SHIP 

ON THE 

EASTERN SHORE OF CAPE COD. 
By AMOS OTIS. 





c 

C 





1. Site of former entrance to Potammagutt or old ship harbor. The locality of the old ship is repre- 
sented in black. 

2. Pre.sent entrance to Chatham harbor. 

3. Island ledge. 

4. Webb's island. 

6. Namskachet creek. 



AX 



ACCOUNT 



DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT SHIP 



EASTERN SHORE OF CAPE COD. 

y 

By AMOS OTIS. 



FROM THE NEW ENGLAND HISTOBICAL AND OENEALOQICAL KEGISTER. 




ALBANY : 
J. MUNSELL, 78 STATE STREET. 

1864. 



rj 



,,(iS02 



DISCOVERY 0? XE AITCIENT SHIP. 



Our earliest historians record that in 1626 a ship entered a harbor 
on the eastern coast of Cape Cod, and that while therein, a violent 
storm arose, closed its entrance, and prevented her departure. This 
harbor was known to the first settlers as "The Old Ship Harbor;" 
but the memory of its location has faded from the minds of the men 
of the present generation, and exists only in the form of an uncertain 
tradition. I have made many inquiries of the aged respecting its 
location, but could obtain no certain information. There is another 
tradition, more uncertain and unreliable, that the name of the Old 
Ship was Sparrow Hawk. 

la this article I propose to give an account of the discovery, and 
a description of the remains of the wreck of an old ship recently 
uncovered by the waves and currents of the ocean at Orleans ; to 
state with some particularity, the evidence, which seems to prove 
beyond a reasonable doubt, that those remains belong to the ship 
which Gov. Bradford iuforms us was lost in Potanumaqut harbor 
in the winter of 1626-7, (or to some still more ancient ship). This 
evidence is principally based on the history of the remarkable geo- 
logical changes that have occurred on the coast, since its discovery. 
Archer's account of Gosnold's voyage around the cape, in 1602, and 
of the appearance of the coast, is so unlike anything seen by the 
modern mariner, that his relation has been considered a myth, or 
traveler's tale, unreliable and unworthy of credence. Geological in- 
quiries may seem out of place in a historical and genealogical journal ; 
but if they do nothing more, they will verify the accuracy of Archer's 
descriptions, and thus aid us in our investigations of the truths of 
history. 

The accounts of the wrecked ship in Morton and Prince are copied 
from Bradford. Morton is not careful in his dates, but he iuforms us 
that the master was a Scotchman named Johnston, a fact not stated 
by Bradford. Mr. Prince, with his accustomed accuracy, states that 
a ship was lost in the beginning of the winter [December], 1626. 
Gov. Bradford's description of the place where the ship was lost, 
would be perfectly clear and distinct, if the configuration of the 
coast was the same now as it was when he wrote. Namaskachet 
creek remains, but Isle Nauset, Points Care and Gilbert, have 
been swept away by the waves and currents of the ocean. Where 
Monamoick bay was, there is a straight line of sea coast; where 
an open sea then was, now long beaches meet the eye; and where 
were navigable waters, now we see sandy wastes and salt meadows. 

Such remarkable changes having been made in the configuration 
of this coast since its discovery by Gosnold, and its examination by 
Smith in 1614, is it surprising that the knowledge of the location of 
" Old Ship Harbor " should have been lost, or that the readers of 
Bradford should have been unable to determine where Monamoick 
bay was ? 



4 Discovery of an ^indent Ship. 

Prof. Agassiz, of Cambridge, in company with the writer and others, 
has recently made a careful geological examination of the eastern 
coast of the towns of Eastham, Orleans and Chatham. An account 
of this examination will hereafter be given. For my present pur- 
pose it is suflScient to state, that the result was a verification of the 
accuracy of Archer's description of the coast. 

This examination enables me to draw an outline map of the coast 
as it was in 1602, and in 1626. I have also a map of the harbors, 
beaches and salt meadows as they were, and as they now are. 

Gov. Bradford, in his history', page 217 and following, states, that 
in the beginning of the winter of 1626-7, a ship with many passen- 
gers, and sundry goods, bound to Virginia, " came so neare y<^ shoulds 
of Cap — Codd, or else ran stumbling over them in y^ night, they knew 
not how, they came right before a small blind harbore, that lyes 
aboute y^ midle of Manamoyake Bay, to y^ southward of Cap — 
Codd, with a small gale of wind ; and about high water toucht upon 
a barr of sand that lyes before it, but had no hurte, y<^ sea being 
smoth ; so they laid out an anchore. But towards the eveing the 
wind sprunge up at sea, and was so rough, as broake their cable, 
and beat them over the barr into y^ harbor, wher they saved their 
lives and goods, though much were hurte with salt water; for w"' beat- 
ing they had sprung y^ but end of a planke or too, and beat out 
ther occome ; but they were soone over, and ran on a drie flate 
within the harbor, close by a beach ; so at low water they gatt out 
their goods on drie shore, and dried those that were wette, and saved 
most of their things without any great loss; neither was ye ship 
much hurt, but shee might be mended, and made servisable againe." 
Gov. Bradford adds that the shipwrecked mariners were visited by 
Indians who could speak English, and who offered to cdrry letters, 
or conduct them to Plymouth. Two men were sent with a letter to 
Gov. Bradford. He ordered a boat to be made ready, and went him- 
self to their assistance, carrying pitch, oakum, spikes, &c. for the 
repairs of the ship. He landed at " Naumskachett" creek, on the 
bay or inside of the cape, about two miles from the place where the 
ship then was. Indians were procured, the materials were carried 
over, the ship was repaired, got off, and her cargo put on board. A 
few days after another violent storm arose, the ship was again 
driven on shore, " and so beatten and shaken as she was now wholy 
unfitte to goe to sea;" consequently the ship was abandoned, her cargo 
transported to Plymouth, and her mariners and passengers remained 
at that town till " the latter part of the following summer, when 
they took passage for Virginia." 

Naumskachett, or Na-raas-ka-ket creek is a part of the boundary 
line between the present towns of Brewster and Orleans. From the 
boat landing on that creek to the navigable waters of Pot-a-numa- 
quut, it is about two miles; to Nauset harbor the distance is greater. 
This fact, taken in connection with Gov. Bradford's statement, 
proves beyond any controversy that Potanumaqut was the harbor 
into which the ship " stumbled." 

The following are the facts in relation to the discovery : On the 
6th of May, 1863, Messrs. Solomon Linnell, 2d, and Alfred Rogers, 
of Orleans were on Nauset Beach, and discovered portions of a 



Discovery of an Ancient Ship. 5 

wreck. Mr. Linnell was at the same place on the 4th, when no part 
of the wreck was visible. This proves that it was uncovered 
between the 4th and 6th of May, 1863. When first discovered it 
was partially covered with the marsh mud in which the wreck had 
been imbedded. On removing some of the mud they found a quan- 
tity of charcoal, and the appearance of the timbers and planks 
indicated that the vessel, of which these were the remains, had been 
burnt down to light water mark. On Saturday, May 9, Leander 
Crosby, Esq., visited the wreck, and collected a lot of beef and 
mutton bones, several soles of shoes, probably made for sandals, a 
smoking pipe, of the kind used by smokers of opium, and a metallic 
box. Afterwards, in company with Messrs, Linnell and Rogers, he 
took out the keelson of the wreck, and the remains of the stern post 
and rudder. 

Soon after the discovery of the wreck, it was visited by John 
Doane, jr., Esq., and Doct. B, F. Seabury, who made an exact meas- 
urement of the portions of the wreck then remaining, for the drawing 
accompanying this article. 

The peculiar model of the wreck excited the curiosity of the 
people, and although four miles from the village, it was visited by 
hundreds, and each one took a fragment as a memento of his visit. 
At the time the writer was there, the current had swept out a basin 
in the sand around the wreck, and, it being low tide, every part 
excepting the keel could be examined. One striking peculiarity was 
immediately noticed by every one, — the long, tail-like projection at 
the stern. The oldest sailor never saw a vessel built on that model. 
She must have had, to use a nautical expression, " a clean run," and 
have been a good sailer, and a good sea boat. There are other 
peculiarities in her construction : her frames, midships, are perfect 
semi-circles. At the head of each timber, a piece of plank about 
seven inches wide and n^'ne long was spiked to the timber, and 
to the ceiling. These pieces of plank, or gluts, were fitted to 
the adjoining timbers, and driven hard, the object being to pre, 
vent the timbers from moving or working in their places. The top 
of the glut was bevelled, and resembled a wedge with a very 
thick edge. On the top of this the next timber was placed, and 
fastened to the glut. A similar plan has recently been introduced 
in ship building, and considered a great improvement. 

The ship was well and strongly built. The frame was of English 
oak, hewn six inches square, with square corners; there was not a 
wany-edged timber in the frame, sliowing that she had been most 
carefully built. The frames were placed side by side, and not an open 
place could be found, into which the hand could be thrust flatwise. 
A few of the stern timbers were of locust, or a wood that resembled 
it. The outer planks and the ceiling were of English oak, two 
inches or two and a quarter thick. 

The drawing exhibits the form at light water mark, or at the 
head of the fultock or second timber-heads, most of which remain. 
If the plan had been taken at the head of tiie floor timbers, it would 
have exhibited her peculiar model in a stronger light. The length 
of her keel was about 35 feet, 12i feet breadth, at light water mark. 
A part of the timbers at the bow had been taken away ; bijt por- 



6 Discovery of an Ancient Ship. 

tions of the planking remained, showing the form. The stem was 
also gone. The ship builder can judge of the peculiarity of her 
form by the amount of dead wood at her stem, and the moulding of 
her frames. The stern post was six inches square, straight, and 
secured to the keel ; the next timber was six inches at the bottom 
and seven at the top ; the 3d about 8 ; the 4th about 9 ; the 5th 
about 10 ; and the sixth was a narrow knee, open a little at the top. 
The length of the portions of these timbers remaining, I omitted to 
take ; they were about four feet' a little higher than the heads of the 
floor timbers. The seventh was a frame, though very narrow at the 
bottom. There were twenty-three regular frames remaining, or forty- 
six timbers, not counting the six at the stern. At the bow several 
frames were missing. The planks were fastened with spikes and 
treenails, in the same manner as at the present time. Some of the 
treenails had been wedged after they were first driven, showing that 
some repairs had been made. 

The timbers and planks of the old ship are very sound, there is no 
appearance of rot. There are no barnacles upon them, they are not 
eaten by worms, and there is no indication that the}' have been for 
any considerable length of time exposed to the action of the ele- 
ments. The spikes, bolts and other fastenings of iron have entirely 
disappeared. Even the rudder braces, which are always made of 
thick bars, are gone. They had not been wrenched off, for the mor- 
tices in which they had been inserted, and the places where the 
spikes with which they had been fastened were driven, bore no 
marks that violence had been used — rust had gradually consumed 
them, and discolored sand indicated the places where the iron once 
was. The wreck was imbedded in marsh mud, and covered deeply 
in sand. Under such circumstances air was almost wholly excluded, 
and oxidation must have been slow. 

Though called a ship, she had only one mast, and that, as shown 
by the mortice in the keelson, was nearly midship. Respecting her 
size, only an approximation to it can be obtained. A modern built 
vessel of her IcTigth of keel and breadth of beam would hardly 
exceed forty tons burthen. But in former times vessels had a greater 
depth of hold in proportion to their length than at the present time. 
This would increase her tonnage. Seventy tons is as large a burthen 
to assign to her as the known facts will warrant. The Mayflower 
was 200 tons burthen, and brought over 101 passengers. This ship 
did not probably have half that number. 

In August last the wreck was again covered with sand, and is 
now buried several feet below the surface, where it may remain 
undiscovered for ages. Centuries hence some plodding antiquarian 
may labor to prove it to be the same I have described in this article. 

One point more remains to be considered. Is the wreck recently 
discovered a part of Capt. Johnston's ship, lost in 1626 ? The 
reader will look at his map. " He Nawset" was of the drift formation, 
hilly, and in some parts rocky. No part of it now remains. About 
fifty years ago, a small portion of it called Slut's Bush, had not 
washed away. The sand on its shores, and most of which has been 
washed by the currents from the north, has blown inward by the 
wiudij, covering the meadows within, and in some places filling the 



Discovery of an Ancient Ship. 7 

navigable channels and harbors on the west. In some places the 
waves of the ocean have swept across the beach, and transported 
immense quantities of sand to the meadows in a single tide. The 
salt meadows, which were on the west side of He Nauset, for years, 
have been cropping out on the east side of the beach. Some of the 
marked bound stakes, of the eight great lots into which the Pota- 
nuraaqut meadows were divided in 1750, have been found on the 
east side. The meadows have not moved, the beach has. 

The wreck of the Old Ship is on the second lot of the Potanumaqut 
meadows. This was always known as the Old Ship lot, but why it 
was so called no one could explain. Now the reason is apparent. 
Ihe position of the wreck has not probably changed since it sunk in 
the place where it now lies. At low tide, there are about two feet of 
water around it, showing that at high water tliere was a sufficient 
depth to have floated a vessel of seventy tons burthen. Every por- 
tion of the wreck is below the line of the surface of the meadows. 
These two facts prove that this vessel was not cast away upon a 
beach, nor on the meadows. 

At the present time a wreck sunk in such a situation would be 
covered with sand and mud in the course of a month. Similar causes 
existed then, and it is safe to assume that Capt. Johnston's vessel 
was covered up very soon after she was lost. 

Salt meadows do not form on a shore wliere a surf beats, or where 
a strong current exists. While the ancient entrance to the harbor 
was open there was such a current on the west, or inside of Isle Nau- 
set, which prevented the formation of salt meadow near the wreck. 
After the closing of the old entrance, the current turned west of 
Pochett and Sampson's islands, and found an outlet through Pleasant 
bay to Chatham harbor, thus leaving a body of still water favorable 
to the rapid formation of salt meadows. Tliis view is confirmed by 
the Easthara records. That town was settled in 1646, and in the 
early division of meadows the Potanumaquut are not named. As 
salt meadows were considered more valuable then, than at the pre- 
sent time, it is surprising that they are not named till 1750 if they 
had then existed. 

Records cannot be quoted to prove the antiquity of this wreck, 
neither can it be proved by living witnesses; we necessarily have' 
to rely on other testimony. That the rust had entirely consumed all 
the iron used in its construction is evidence of antiquity. Tlie posi- 
tion of the wreck in reference to navigable waters, to the salt mea- 
dows, and to the beaches is reliable testimony. 

Now it is perfectly certain that this wreck must have been in its 
present position since the year 1750, or 113 years, for since that 
date there have been no navigable waters within a quarter of a mile 
of the spot where it lies. It is also certain that it must have been in 
its present position during all that period, prior to 1750, while the 
meadows were forming around it, and on the west. If it is admitted 
that those meadows are of recent formation, one hundred years 
would be a low estimate, making the whole time 213 years. 

If it be said that the Potanumaquut meadows belong to the older 
and not to the recent formation, it proves too much; it proves that 
the wreck has been in its present position many centuries — that it is 



8 Discovery of an Ancient Ship. 

the remains of an old ship in which the Northmen, or other ancient 
navigators, sailed. 

The position of this wreck in reference to the salt meadows and 
to the beach is the best possible evidence of its antiquity. If driven 
there it must have been by a westerly wind, which would cause a 
low tide. Admitting that the vessel, of which this wreck is the re- 
mains, was by some unknown cause forced on to the meadows, how 
was the wreck buried below the line of the surface ? To suppose 
that she was so buried on hard meadows by natural causes is an 
impossibility. That the wreck was there first, and the meadows 
formed over it, seems a self evident truth, and judging from the rate 
at which similar meadows have formed, two hundred and thirty- seven 
years is not an unreasonable length of time to assign for the Ibrma- 
tion of the Potanumaquut meadows, and consequently the length 
of time that the wreck of the "Old Ship" at Orleans has remained 
in its present position. 

Those who are not aware of the remarkable geological changes 
that have occurred on the eastern coast of Cape Cod since its dis- 
covery doubt the truthfulness of Archer, who was the historian of 
Gosnold's voyages. I have in this article assumed that he was a 
careful and an accurate observer, and faithfully recorded what he 
paw. Great geological changes make their own records; they leave 
in the strata and in the various deposits the footprints which the 
scientific student of nature can trace and follow. 

Cape Cod was discovered by Bartholomew Gosnold, May 15, 1602 
0. S. He anchored at first near the end of the cape, which he 
called Shoal Hope, but afterwards changed to the name it has since 
retained. Afterwards he anchored in the harbor, in latitude 42*^. 
On the 16th he sailed round the cape. After proceeding 12 leagues 
in this circuitous cburse he descried a point of land " a good dis- 
tance off" with shoals near it. He "kept his lulf " to double it, and 
after passing it " bore up again with the land," and at night an- 
chored, where he remained that night and the following day. May 17. 

He saw many shoals in that vicinity, and " another point tliat lay 
in his course." On the IXth he sent a boat to sound around the 
point, and on the 19th passed around it "in four or five fathoms and 
anchored a league, or somewhat more beyond it," in latitude 41° 40'. 

Nothing is named in this account that the most careless observer 
would not have seen and noted. When he discovered the first point 
he was off Bastham, a little north of the beach where the " Three 
Lights " are now located. He saw the danger, and like a prudent 
mariner kept his luff to avoid it. The shoal he called Tucker's Ter- 
ror, the headland Point Care. After passing Point Care he bore up 
again to the mainland. This description of the coast is simple and 
truthful. To determine the exact position of Point Care is attended 
with some diflSculty. That it was the north end headland of the is- 
land, named by Capt. John Smith " He Nawset," there appears to be 4 
no reason to doubt. The only difficulty is in determining precisely 
where the north end of that island was in 1602. The northern end • 
of it, which persons living remember, was opposite the present en- 
trance to Nauset harbor. In 1602 it probably extended half a mile 
further north, that is, as far north as the low beach extended. That 



Discovery of an Ancient Ship. 9 

persons now living remember. John Doane, Esq., now seventy years 
of age, was born in tl>e immediate vicinity of Point Care. His father 
and grandfather, in fact all his ancestors from the first settlement, 
owned the land and the meadows between He Nawset and the main. 
He says that within his recollection Point Care has worn awaj' about 
half a mile. When his grandfather was a boy, Point Care extended 
much further into the ocean than it did when he was young. These 
are not vague and uncertain recollections. Mr. Doane points to 
monuments, and the exact distance that the ocean has encroached on 
the land within his recollection can be ascertained. He states that 
fifty years ago a beach extended from the present entrance of Nau- 
set harbor half a mile north, where the entrance then was. Within 
this beach his father owned ten acres of salt meadows, on which he 
for several years assisted him in cutting and raking the hay. 
Now where that beach was there are three or four fathoms of water, 
and wiiere the meadows were is a sand bar on which the waves con- 
tinually break, and make Nauset harbor difficult of access. Within 
bis memory the north beach, connected with the Eastham shore, has 
extended south one mile, and the whole beach has moved inward 
about its width, say one-fourth of a mile. Formerly there were 
navigable waters between Nauset and Potanumaquut harbors. It 
is about a century since vessels have passed through, and about fifty 
years since the passage was entirely closed. This was caused by 
the moving of Nauset beach inwards. Dunes always travel in- 
ward, never outward, let the direction be what it may. 

Mr. Doane says that his grandfather informed him, that when he 
was young a rocky swampy piece of land, known as Slut's Bush, 
was about in the middle of Isle Nauset; that many berries grew 
there, and that he had repeatedly been there to pick them. When the 
present John Doane, Esq., was a lad, only the wftstern edge of this 
swamp remained. The roots of the trees and bushes that grew there 
ran under and between the rocks and stones, and when the waves 
undermined the rocks, the whole, rocks, stumps and roots settled to- 
gether. Slut's Bush is now some distance from the shore, in deep 
water ; vessels pass over it, and on a calm day the stumps and roots 
may be seen at tlie bottom. The fisherman sometimes gets his line 
entangled with them and pulls them up. During violent gales of 
wind they are sometimes loosened and driven to the shore. 

Beyond Slut's Bush, about three miles from the shore, there is a 
similar ledge called Beriah's ledge, probably formed in precisely the 
same manner as Slut's Bush ledge is known to have been formed. 

Six nautical miles south of Point Care, Gosnold discovered another 
headland which he named Point Gilbert. Archer furnishes us with 
all the particulars respecting the soundings, the straits, his passing 
round it, and anchoring a league or more beyond in latitude 41*^ 40'. 
We have historical and circumstantial evidence, that Point Gilbert 
existed in 1602; it united with the main land at James head, near 
Chatham lights. From James head, on its south shore, it extended 
nine miles on an east by south course to its eastern terminus, after- 
wards known as Webb's island, situate where Crabb's ledge now is 
Cape Care was worn away by the gradual abrasion of the waves; over 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



10 Discovery of an Ancient Suijt, 



014 076 687 2 



Point Gilbert the sea, during a violent gale, swept, carrying away 
long sections in a single day. 

The inner ledge on the line of Point Gilbert is known as Island 
ledge, and the name indicates that the sea broke over the point at 
two places about the same time. Eev. Dr. Morse states that Webb's 
island at one time, contained fifteen acres of rocky land covered with 
wood from which the early inhabitants of Nantucket procured fuel.* 
The process which has been described as having occurred at Slut's 
Bush ledge also occurred at Crabb and Island ledges; the stumps 
and roots of the trees were carried down by the superincumbent 
rocks. Mr. Joshua Y. Bearse, who resided many years at Monamoit 
point, and has all his life been familiar with the shoals and ledges 
near Chatham, informs me that it is very difficult to obtain an anchor 
lost near either of these ledges; the sweeps used, catch against the 
rocks and stumps at the bottom; that in repeated instances he has 
pulled up stumps of trees fi'om the bottom where the water is four 
fathoms deep. He also states that after the violent gale in 1851, 
during which the sea broke over Nauset Beach where the ancient en- 
trance to Potanumaquut harbor was, and where the entrance to 
Chatham harbor was in 1176, with a force which seems almost incre- 
dible, sweeping away banks of earth 20 feet high, cutting channels 
therein five fathoms deep, moving the sea around to its very bot- 
tom, and tearing up the old stumps which had been there more than 
a century. Mr. Bearse states that more than one hundred of these 
drifted during that gale to the shore at Monamoit beach; and that he 
picked them up for fuel. A part of these were stumps that bore the 
marks of the axe, but the greater part, were broken or rotted off. 

These old stumps did not grow under the water; they did not float 
to the positions from which they were dragged up; they grew in a 
compact rocky soi? overlying a loose sand. The waves and *!»*» 
currents removed the loose substratum, and the rocks and the stumps 
went down together into the deep water where they are now found. 

From the place where Gosnold anchored, a league or more from 
Point Gilbert, there was an open sea to the south-west. Monamoit 
beach, which projects out eight miles south from Morris island, did 
not then exist; there was nothing there to impede navigation. 

[Prof. Agassiz, who is the author of the geological theory which the accompany- 
ing map delineates, furiaishes us with the following note dated Cambridge, Decem- 
ber 17, 1863 : 

" Surprising and p<^rhaps incredible as the statements of Mr. Amos Otis may ap- 
pear they are nevertheless the direct and natural inference of observations which may 
easily be made along the eastern coast of Cape Cod. Having of late felt a special 
interest in the geological structure of that remarkable region, I have ref)eatedly 
visited it during the past summer, and, in company with Mr. Otis, examined on 
one occasion, with the most minute* care, the evidence of the former existence 
of Isle Nauset and Point Gilbert. I found it as satisfactory as any geological evi- 
dence can be. Besides its scientific interest, this result has some historical import- 
ance. At all events it fully vindicates Archer's account of the aspect of Cape Cod 
at tlie time of its discovery, in 1602, and shows him to have been a truthful and 
accurate observer." — Editok.] 

*See Morse's Universal Geography, i 357, ed. 1793. 



